Page 16 of Hell and High Water

And I absolutely don’t hide a smile.

That would encourage him in worse ways. Doubling down seems to be his go-to.

Even so, the fact that we both love the same woman and are fighting for our home holds us together. Tell is as dedicated to both as I am, genuinely and irrefutably. So I can’t dislike the guy. I respect the hell out of him.

The grin spreading across that jackass’s face right now tells me something else, too.

Hellena must be doing alright.

Of course, he’s going to make me ask, giving me the side eye and chuckling to himself.

“Seriously? Are you really going to leave me hanging?”

“What?”

“The text you just got.”

“Oh, just some good news.” He wags his eyebrows.

“Good news only you got, apparently…” To be fair, we have been swapping burner phones, trying not to leave a trail for anyone to follow back to Hellena, if Marco is still searching for her.

Thus, I haven’t had as much contact with Gavin.

“She's awake!”

I huff a long sigh. “I figured. Thank goodness.”

“Don’t sound so excited.”

“I really am. It’s just…”

“You are a chicken shit who would rather bury his head in his work than go see her and apologize?”

“Who says she even wants me to?”

“Oh, yeah. Good point. The guy she made love to on stage in front of the entire town? Nah. She’s over it, I’m sure.”

I glare at him for several seconds. “You’re an ass.”

“And you’re an idiot. Aside from Gavvy, you’re probably the person she wants to see most.”

“What about you?”

“Oh, it goes without saying that she’s dying to see me.”

“Full of ourselves, aren't we?”

“Hey, I’ve been there, holding her hand. At her bedside. I’ve been checking in on her Aunt.”

“Touché. But someone has to manage this town so she has a home to come back to,” I hedge. It’s out of character for me to be so evasive. I usually deal with things head on.

Except it’s her.

Nothing has been easy since I met her. She’s done nothing but challenge me to change.

Not a bad thing. A hard thing, though.

I sift through a pile, rolling my shoulders in agitation. Having all of my hard copies, files, and dirt out in the open like this rankles me, goes against everything I plan for. Anyone, particularly Marco’s men, or Devonde, could break in and find everything.

---